On the 2–6 of October the International Festival for Children and Youth JĖGA/COOL! will be held. It is organized by Lithuanian Assitej for the fifth time.
Every time it chooses a different corner of Lithuania so that children from smaller towns and
villages can have an opportunity to see professional performances.This time the Festival will cheer children of the northern region.
Almost 30 performances will be shown for children of different ages.
The director of Šiauliai National Drama Theatre and one of the organizers of this Festival Aurimas Žvinys says:”We will have such a big international theatre event in Šiauliai for the first time. It’s a big joy and a big responsibility for our theatre as well, as we’ve become a member of Lithuanian Assitej only a few years ago. I’m sure that our young audience is waiting for it very much.”
In the colourful program of the Festival we'll see 15 Lithuanian and 6 foreign groups. Children will be invited to participate in different educational activities. Seminars and a forum of young theatre critics will be arranged.
During the Festival, on the 3–4 th of October , a meeting of traditional Nordic-Baltic members will take place. Representatives of Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania will share their experiences and ideas.
The president of Lithuanian Assitej Violeta Podolskaitė is sure that 18 years work of Assitej is
getting more and more visible and known. “When holding already the 5th international festival, we feel that we have outgrown children T-shirts. We are improving format of the Festival all the time, so we constantly get more international attention.”
It is symbolic that the 5 th Festival “JĖGA/COOL!” is given for a special occasion – 100 years of the restored independence of Lithuania.
